


Aberration

by bluemoonmaverick



Series: Supposition [28]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Episode Related, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-15
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-09 01:17:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1963530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemoonmaverick/pseuds/bluemoonmaverick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story is part of a series that, while sticking strictly to canon, explores the theory that Sam and Jack were engaged in a clandestine romance off-screen from Season 6 onward.</p>
<p>This tag takes place during and after the events of The Road Not Taken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aberration

It had been several minutes since President Landry had left Sam in his personal quarters aboard the _Prometheus_ \- no, Air Force One, she mentally corrected herself - to take an urgent call in his office, which apparently was in a different part of the ship. She was still staring out the large picture window, watching the Earth spin while trying to come to terms with what had happened to the protester at the cocktail party, when she heard a door behind her slide open.

"Sam?"

She'd have recognized that voice in any universe. Instinctively, she turned toward the sound, her heart beating wildly. "Jack," she stated simply, trying to mask her shock - first at finding him there, then at his appearance.

He was in a flight uniform that identified him as one of the crew, his insignia indicating that he held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. But it wasn't his dress that shocked her so much as the deep lines etched in his skin, his grim expression, and the darkness that cast his eyes in shadow. To her horror, she realized that she was looking into the face of a man defeated.

Though he had the same features as her Jack, he was most definitely not the same man.

Still, she found some comfort in the fact that he was still alive. He'd been the first person she'd asked for when Lorne had taken her to the interrogation room, and she'd simply been told he was unavailable with no further explanation. Every time she'd brought up his name, she'd been met with an uncomfortable and noncommittal response. Given all that had occurred, she'd been afraid to find out what had happened to him, and she'd all but concluded that he'd been captured, or killed.

Her thoughts were interrupted when he crossed the room in two long strides and unexpectedly gathered her in his arms. Too stunned to react, she didn't protest when he bent down to kiss her and was surprised to discover that the experience was vastly different somehow, even beyond the fact that she wasn't returning the kiss. He looked like Jack O'Neill, but he felt and tasted completely foreign. The usual instantaneous spark of passion was missing; she might have been kissing a complete stranger for all she felt.

She wondered briefly if it had been the same for her Jack when he'd kissed that other Sam all those years ago.

He pulled back suddenly, his eyes haunted. "So, it's it true then. You're not my Sam?"

"No, I'm not," she responded, not missing the possessive pronoun.

His face crumpled, betraying the depth of his devastation. "She's really gone?"

"I...I'm sorry." And she was, especially if this man loved his Sam even half as much as Jack loved her.

He released her and turned away, apparently trying to get his emotions under control. After a moment he spoke, his back still toward her. "In your universe, are we...are you and he...?"

"Yes."

He turned to face her then, his look earnest. "Are you happy?"

"Yes," she responded simply, considering what his question might mean. Was it possible they weren't? "I take it you were a couple, then?" she ventured.

"No."

She was shocked, not only because he'd just kissed her but because they had been together in every other universe they'd ever stumbled across, and it was almost impossible to imagine any where they hadn't found one another.

Something dark passed over his face, and it occurred to her that she didn't have the whole story.

"But you were together, at one point," she concluded out loud.

For the first time since he'd walked into the room, his eyes softened a bit. "Yes."

With all that she'd discovered about this horrible universe, Sam was not at all sure she really wanted to know, but in the end her curiosity got the better of her. "What happened?"

He let out a long sigh and ran his hands over his face and through his hair, as though he'd been working on acceptance of the situation for quite some time. It was a gesture so familiar, she almost forgot he wasn't her husband.

He blew out a large breath and began to explain, his voice bitter. "We got caught. We were both busted a rank and I was removed from my position as leader of SG-1. I was relegated to," he gestured around, "this floating refuge for our esteemed commander-in-chief while you-she," he corrected himself quickly, "stayed with the rest of the science geeks at the SGC."

All the color drained from Sam's face. "So she was removed from SG-1 as well?" God, losing her team, losing _him_ , had always been her worst fear, and she wondered if that was what would have happened if she and Jack had ever been caught.

But he was looking at her with his head cocked to one side, as though he didn't understand what she'd said. "My Sam was never on SG-1. She's always been in the science department."

Now it was her turn to look confused. "So she wasn't in your chain of command?" He shook his head. "Then I don't understand. Why did you get in trouble?"

He scowled, and his next words were razor sharp. "Cheating on your spouse doesn't constitute conduct unbecoming where you're from?"

Her utter shock prevented her from fully processing the meaning of his words at first. When the truth hit her, she felt her stomach drop and her knees almost give. "Sara," she whispered in near disbelief. "You're still married to Sara."

He tensed. "Technically, yes, though it's just a matter of the paperwork now. Sara…well, let's just say she wasn't as quick to move on as McKay, at least not in the beginning."

She took a step backwards, her mind reeling with the implications. Had her counterpart and Rodney divorced because of her affair with Jack? While she had a difficult time imagining a marriage to Rodney McKay, she couldn't fathom the thought of being unfaithful, even with Jack.

And what of the man standing before her? Apparently he had risked it all, his own marriage, his career, all for her, and now he'd lost it all, including her. Though, in truth, she wondered if maybe he hadn't already lost himself - as well as his Sam - long before she was killed in the inter-dimensional field.

A thought occurred to her. "Charlie-?" she asked, though she couldn't bring herself to finish the question.

But he did it for her. "Is still not speaking to me."

So his son was alive, though it sounded as though their relationship was strained at best.

If she'd had any lingering doubt about whether this was the same man to whom she was married in her own universe, it was completely gone now. Her Jack never would have cheated. Not on Sara, and not on her. He simply didn't have the capacity for that kind of betrayal.

They both turned toward the sound of footsteps in the hallway. "I have to go," he said. "I'm not supposed to be here."

She nodded her head once, still sorting through the ramifications of what she had learned. "Just tell me one thing," he said suddenly. She looked at him expectantly, and when he finally spoke, she did her best not to react to the utter desperation in his tone. "Do you love him?"

She lifted her chin as if defying him to doubt her. "More than I can say."

He stared at her for several beats. "Say it anyway," he said in a tight voice, before turning on his heel and leaving her abruptly, the tears she'd been holding at bay now streaming down her face.

oOoOoOo

She'd called him, of course, the moment she returned to her own universe. The relief in his voice was palpable. They'd made plans for her to fly to DC that weekend, but she continued to be haunted by the other Jack's look of despair, so she'd booked the red eye to Dulles that same night instead.

She was in the cab on the way to his brownstone before she realized that she hadn't even called to tell him she was coming early. By the time she arrived, the snow was falling hard and showed no signs of stopping, a heavy layer already blanketing the sidewalk.

She let herself in with her key and didn't bother turning on the lights. By now, she could find her way around his house in DC almost as well as she could their home in Colorado Springs. It was dark, but the snow reflected the light from the street lamps, so she could see that he didn't move when she slipped into his bedroom.

Her heart skipped a beat as she took in his peacefully sleeping form. As always, he was sprawled across the bed, the covers having slid halfway down his body. His thin tee-shirt did little to hide his broad chest, and she took a moment to admire the view. He let out a soft snore, and she had to suppress a giggle.

Either she was stealthier than she used to be, or he'd lost some of his edge flying his desk at the Pentagon, because he didn't wake up until she'd shed her clothes and slipped between the sheets.

She kissed him awake and smiled into his mouth when he responded to her automatically. "Sam?" he asked, his voice heavy with sleep, as she finally broke the kiss to take off his shirt.

She was tempted to give him a snarky reply, but after all that had happened in the alternate universe, she didn't have the heart. No, all she wanted right now was to hold on to him and never let go, to make love to him in a way that left no doubt how she felt.

She pushed his boxers off and reached down to stroke him, finding that he was already half hard. He groaned and grabbed her wrist gently, rolling on top of her and pinning her to the bed.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?" he said, his voice still rough. He used his knee to edge her legs further apart before settling himself between her thighs and rocking against her gently.

"I need to tell you something," she mumbled against his stubbled jaw.

But he was already kissing the spot behind her ear, the one that drove her mad, while his now fully erect cock slid against her all too willing sex. She sighed in blissful resignation as she felt the familiar rush of heat and wetness between them. It was then that she decided her message could wait. He must have thought the same thing because with the next thrust, he was pushing deep inside her, causing them both to moan.

All communication after that was of the completely nonverbal variety, and there was no further conversation until much, much later when she curled up next to him, completely sated, as she listened to the rapidly slowing beat of his heart.

He nuzzled her temple. "You said you needed to tell me something."

"Yeah," she replied quietly, watching her own fingers wander through his chest hair.

She lifted herself up on one elbow, and he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, looking at her intently. She could just see his eyes in the dim light of the darkened bedroom. She'd meant to tell him all about the other Jack, how sad and desperate she had found him, but it didn't seem necessary now.

"I love you," she said suddenly.

He didn't respond immediately, and she could see he was trying to figure out where the unexpected declaration was coming from, since she usually tended to be playful rather than serious in bed. In the end, though, he must have decided it didn't matter.

"I love you, too," he replied softly, before pulling her head down so he could kiss her tenderly on the lips, in a manner that was unmistakably _right_.

She knew then that was all that needed to be said.


End file.
